Electric car racing just got cheaper
Electric car racing is big business. In 2022, 216 million people watched Formula E electric cars hoon around cities. Electric cars with gobs of torque now rule the Pikes Peak Hill Climb and the highest tiers of rallycross. But electric car racing is still a high-end and exclusive sport. In the world’s cheapest race — 24 Hours of Lemons, where cars cost a maximum of $500 — only 2 electric cars have competed during the series’ 15-year history. Could 2023 be the year of cheap electric car racing?
2023 brings massive subsidies for electric cars in the US. Starting on Jan 1, 2023, the US government launched its first ever incentive for used EVs in the amount of $4000. State subsidies are ramping up, and Oregon now offers $7500 towards used EV. You can combine these subsidies to save $11,500 on a used EV. Car auction websites are peppered with long-range EVs with mild cosmetic damage for $12,000 or less. With these subsidies, a $12,000 EV becomes a $500 EV — perfect for Lemons!
What’s a $500 EV like on track?
I recently I took my daily-driver Kia Niro EV to a track day at Thunderhill Raceway in Northern California. I bought the Niro new, but with the right government incentives, a banged-up example could be had for $500. On track the Niro is no BMW M3, but its manners are crisp and predictable. In a straight line, it rushes to its 103 mph top speed and stays there. Its party trick is how it behaves in sweeping turns: it drifts like a Fiesta ST. However, in low-speed hairpin turns you have to be patient. If you mash the throttle too soon, the traction control cuts power.
How many miles can it drive on track?
One concern for electric car racing is range. The EPA estimates the Niro EV can go 238 miles on a single charge, but track use drains the battery much quicker. The day at Thunderhill was broken into 20-minute driving sessions, and after each session I used a pencil and paper to record the car’s energy usage. In the morning, I drove flat out (2:30 to 2:35 lap time on a 3-mile track), and the battery lasted about 70 miles. At lunchtime, I drove 7 miles to an Electrify America fast-charge station in the town of Willows. After I returned from lunch with a full battery, I slowed to a 3-minute-per-lap pace, and the battery lasted longer. By my calculations, at this pace the car could finish 150 miles on track before needing a recharge.
How well would a $500 Niro EV do in Lemons?
A 24 Hours of Lemons race is actually 14 hours: 7 hours of track time on Saturday and 7 hours on Sunday. In a typical 14-hour race, the winner drives 850 miles on track. With today’s tech, an electric car won’t match that number, because it’ll need to stop and charge. So, instead of winning the race, I think the new goal is, “go further in Lemons than any EV has done before.”
Extrapolating from my track day, I’ve devised a schedule for running an EV in Lemons. The idea is to drive 280 miles per day (including a break to charge at midday), for a total of 560 miles on a race weekend. That might not sound like much, but the best Lemons EV result so far is 374 miles, which was achieved in a 1980s Plymouth with a battery yanked from a Chevy Volt hybrid. So, if someone runs a Kia Niro EV or Chevy Bolt in Lemons, they stand to beat the record by nearly 200 miles. Beyond that, I bet racers will up the stakes by improving their cars’ aerodynamics for increased range. And, they’ll pester tracks to install fast-chargers closer to the racing circuit.
One more benefit of EV racing: reliability. A $500 gas car from Craigslist is typically on its last legs, and Lemons teams spend valuable track time mending broken engines. But a modern EV is propelled by a simple powertrain with few moving parts, and it has a strong chance of finishing the race with no drama. While others are limping their broken race cars onto trailers, the EV will be minty fresh and ready to drive home.
Author Bio: Forrest Iandola is a car enthusiast and computer scientist. He co-founded a software startup that was later acquired by Tesla.
